By David Fenker
North Manchester’s town council approved Wednesday a plan to meeting a funding request from the Wabash County Animal Shelter – partially.
In January, the shelter requested $12,000 from the town, payable either by reimbursing the shelter’s animal supplies and utility bills or in monthly payments.
The shelter board voted to temporarily cease service to North Manchester after the council did not give shelter representatives a date by which a decision would be made at that meeting.
“We’ve looked at the option of accepting their ceasing of service at face value,” Council President Chalmer “Toby” Tobias said. “We looked at the option of simply accepting their request as given, for the $12,000, or what, in my opinion seemed to have the most amount of steam… a per-incident basis, with some way to track exactly what the numbers are.”
The proposal approved by the council Wednesday, Feb. 7, permits a payment of $100 per animal from North Manchester processed by the shelter, verified by paperwork the shelter already uses for animal intake.
As passed, the proposal is retroactive to Jan. 1 and lasts until July 1, with a $6,000 cap – half of what the shelter asked in January.
Should the shelter agree to the proposal, the council will reassess the situation in July to determine its next steps.
“I think, moving forward, we need to have kind of a proof and a trusting relationship,” Town Manager Adam Penrod said. “Maybe we can kind of meet in the middle, and see how things progress.
“It’s going to get close to what they’re requesting anyway,” he continued, noting that in 2016 the shelter had 111 animals from North Manchester.
While all council members voted in favor of the proposal, concerns voiced included how the shelter approached the council – including delays in delivering financial information – and how the shelter manages its finances.
“More and more, local municipalities are being asked to pay for services which were previously paid for at other levels of government,” council member Allen Miracle said, referencing how the county previously funded the shelter.
“We need data-driven service and financial information from the requesting entities to help us in our decision-making process.”
Additionally, the council approved:
- The first reading of an ordinance to amend the use of the Police Donation Fund from “traffic safety” to “public safety”
- A mutual aid agreement between North Manchester Police Department, Wabash City Police Department and Wabash County Sheriff’s Department
- Check write-offs from uncashed checks written by the town in 2015 totalling more than $276
The council also heard a presentation regarding a school resource officer from Manchester Community Schools Business Manager Scott Bumgardner.
For more, see the Feb. 14 issue of the News-Journal.